Business news from Ukraine

Ukraine’s Economic Development and Trade Ministry has announced the start of a second contest of micro projects of non-profitable organizations concerning popularization of local culture, history and natural inheritance in Lviv, Volyn, Zakarpattia, Rivne, Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. According to a posting on the ministry’s website, EUR 5.2 million has been provided from the budget of the Poland-Belarus-Ukraine border cooperation program for 2014-2020. The sum of a grant for a project could be from EUR 20,000 to EUR 60,000.
The ministry said that the grant will be provided for cultural, creative and educational events, experience exchange events, preservation of historical and natural inheritance of the border areas and development of local communities.
Bids can be submitted until October 31, 2018. The projects will be selected in June 2019.

PJSC ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (Dnipropetrovsk region) after a radical modernization by 2025 will become a modern European enterprise, Director General Paramjit Kahlon told the employees of the plant on occasion of the 84th anniversary of its establishment. “I am sure that by 2025 we will have a modern European plant in accordance with all European standards, with minimal emissions of pollutants, with a very high level of productivity, with very low production costs and with the generations, who will then link their lives with metallurgy and this enterprise,” the top manager said.
At the same time, he stressed that the company is not standing still, is developing, and this gives hope for its future. “Once this modernization is completed, we will work in a new way,” the head of the enterprise is convinced, urging everyone to be participants in these changes and become architects of the success story that the administration is trying to create. According to Kahlon, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih has three main goals: the first one is the modernization of the enterprise, still with an emphasis on ecology and environmental protection. The second one is the development of personnel and training new generations, the third one is partnership with the public.
The head of the company in December 2017 reported that ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih intended to invest $250 million annually in the renewal of production until 2025.

Sales of snacks on the Ukrainian market grew by 6.8% in unit value in the period from April 2017 through March 2018, Nielsen research company has reported.
According to a retail audit report by Nielsen, the retail grew by almost the same figure as in April 2016 through March 2017 – by 6.1%. The pace of sales growth in nominal value increased from April 2017 through March 2018 by 24.7%, and in 2016-2017 – by 14.3%.
The potato crisps segment made the main contribution to the growth of the snack market, occupying 34% in nominal value and 23.3% in unit value – its sales grew by 29% and 21% in nominal value and in unit value respectively. A year ago the sales growth was 17.1% and 5.9% respectively.
The sunflower seeds segment is the largest segment in sales in unit value – the share of total sales is 36.2%, and in nominal value – 26.3%. From April 2017 through March 2018, sales grew by 16.1% in nominal value and fell by 6.6% in unit value. “Private labels on the snack market are widely presented: the share of total sales is 11.5% in nominal value and 17.1% in unit value
Hypermarkets and supermarkets occupy the largest share of total channels – 50.2% in nominal value and 53.6% in unit value.
According to Nielsen, growth of snacks is seen in hypermarkets and supermarkets: by 17.3% in unit value and 36.8% in nominal value. Mini-markets showed a rise of 10.3% in unit value and 31.2% in nominal value.

Focus Estate Fund investment fund (headquartered in Kyiv) has closed a deal on the acquisition of the Galeria Awangarda shopping center with a total area of 7,500 square meters in Bartoszyce (Poland), the company’s press service has said.
“With this investment, the fund increased its portfolio in the medium-sized retail real estate sector in Poland and the Czech Republic to five facilities with a total lease area of more than 34,000 square meters,” Managing Partner of Focus Estate Fund Andriy Kozyn said.
According to the report, the Galeria Awangarda shopping center was opened in April 2016, among its largest tenants are the stores Biedronka, Jysk, KIK, Deichmann, and ABRA.
According to the company, at the time of the deal, the vacancy of premises in the object was about 3%.
The press service said the transaction broker was KYHOS Real Estate s.r.o., the property manager was JLL, while legal support was provided by Czabański Gałuszyński i Partnerzy.
The company plans within two or three years to invest about EUR50 million in the development of medium-sized commercial property projects in Eastern Europe.

More than a million Ukrainians have taken advantage of the visa-free regime with the EU since the introduction of a simplified system in June 2017. “More than a million Ukrainians have already taken advantage of the visa-free regime with the countries of the European Union since June 2017,” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wrote on his Facebook page.
The press service of the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service, in turn, noted that a significant increase in passenger traffic to the European Union countries was associated with the beginning of the tourist season and vacations. In addition, from July to September every year, European countries note the demand for attendance by entrants and students of their educational institutions.
As reported, 500,000 trips of Ukrainians to the European Union were recorded in mid-May 2018.
In general, there are a great number of people going to the EU by air. About 35% of Ukrainians currently choose air travel to the EU. Poland is also a popular destination for crossing the border by road. The overwhelming majority of Ukrainians get into the EU countries through the border with this country.

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